n. [ OE. fader, AS. fæder; akin to OS. fadar, D. vader, OHG. fatar, G. vater, Icel. faðir Sw. & Dan. fader, OIr. athir, L. pater, Gr. path`r, Skr. pitr, perh. fr. Skr. pā protect. √75, 247. Cf. Papa, Paternal, Patriot, Potential, Pablum. ] 1. One who has begotten a child, whether son or daughter; a generator; a male parent. [ 1913 Webster ]

A wise son maketh a glad father. Prov. x. 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A male ancestor more remote than a parent; a progenitor; especially, a first ancestor; a founder of a race or family; -- in the plural, fathers, ancestors. [ 1913 Webster ]

David slept with his fathers. 1 Kings ii. 10. [ 1913 Webster ]

Abraham, who is the father of us all. Rom. iv. 16. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One who performs the offices of a parent by maintenance, affetionate care, counsel, or protection. [ 1913 Webster ]

I was a father to the poor. Job xxix. 16. [ 1913 Webster ]

He hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house. Gen. xiv. 8. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A respectful mode of address to an old man. [ 1913 Webster ]

And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him [ Elisha ], . . . and said, O my father, my father! 2 Kings xiii. 14. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A senator of ancient Rome. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A dignitary of the church, a superior of a convent, a confessor (called also father confessor), or a priest; also, the eldest member of a profession, or of a legislative assembly, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bless you, good father friar ! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. One of the chief ecclesiastical authorities of the first centuries after Christ; -- often spoken of collectively as the Fathers; as, the Latin, Greek, or apostolic Fathers. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. One who, or that which, gives origin; an originator; a producer, author, or contriver; the first to practice any art, profession, or occupation; a distinguished example or teacher. [ 1913 Webster ]

The father of all such as handle the harp and organ. Gen. iv. 21. [ 1913 Webster ]

Might be the father, Harry, to that thought. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The father of good news. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. The Supreme Being and Creator; God; in theology, the first person in the Trinity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Our Father, which art in heaven. Matt. vi. 9. [ 1913 Webster ]

Now had the almighty Father from above . . .
Bent down his eye. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Adoptive father, one who adopts the child of another, treating it as his own. --
Apostolic father,
Conscript fathers, etc. See under Apostolic, Conscript, etc. --
Father in God, a title given to bishops. --
Father of lies, the Devil. --
Father of the bar, the oldest practitioner at the bar. --
Fathers of the city, the aldermen. --
Father of the Faithful. (a) Abraham. Rom. iv. Gal. iii. 6-9. (b) Mohammed, or one of the sultans, his successors. --
Father of the house, the member of a legislative body who has had the longest continuous service. --
Most Reverend Father in God, a title given to archbishops and metropolitans, as to the archbishops of Canterbury and York. --
Natural father, the father of an illegitimate child. --
Putative father, one who is presumed to be the father of an illegitimate child; the supposed father. --
Spiritual father. (a) A religious teacher or guide, esp. one instrumental in leading a soul to God. (b) (R. C. Ch.) A priest who hears confession in the sacrament of penance. --
The Holy Father (R. C. Ch.), the pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Fathered p. pr. & vb. n. Fathering. ] 1. To make one's self the father of; to beget. [ 1913 Webster ]

Cowards father cowards, and base things sire base. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To take as one's own child; to adopt; hence, to assume as one's own work; to acknowledge one's self author of or responsible for (a statement, policy, etc.). [ 1913 Webster ]

Men of wit
Often fathered what he writ. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To provide with a father. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Think you I am no stronger than my sex,
Being so fathered and so husbanded ? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To father on or
To father upon, to ascribe to, or charge upon, as one's offspring or work; to put or lay upon as being responsible. “Nothing can be so uncouth or extravagant, which may not be fathered on some fetch of wit, or some caprice of humor.” Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. God, when considered as the first person in the Trinity.
Syn. -- Father. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The state of being a father; the character or authority of a father; paternity. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Fathers-in-law The father of one's husband or wife; -- correlative to son-in-law and daughter-in-law. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ A man who marries a woman having children already, is sometimes, though erroneously, called their father-in-law. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Imitated fr. D. vaderland. See Father, and Land. ] One's native land; the native land of one's fathers or ancestors. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A European marine fish (Cottus bubalis), allied to the sculpin; -- called also lucky proach. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Destitute of a living father; as, a fatherless child. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Without a known author. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being without a father. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Fatherly. ] The qualities of a father; parantal kindness, care, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Zool.) See Daddy longlegs, 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Like a father in affection and care; paternal; tender; protecting; careful. [ 1913 Webster ]

You have showed a tender, fatherly regard. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to a father. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being a father; fatherhood; paternity. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who precedes another in the line of genealogy in any degree, but usually in a remote degree; an ancestor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Respecting your forefathers, you would have been taught to respect yourselves. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Forefathers' Day, the anniversary of the day (December 21) on which the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts (1620). On account of a mistake in reckoning the change from Old Style to New Style, it has generally been celebrated on the 22d. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. godfæder. Cf. Gossip. ] A man who becomes sponsor for a child at baptism, and makes himself a surety for its Christian training and instruction. Correlative of godmother. [ 1913 Webster ]

There shall be for every Male-child to be baptized, when they can be had, two Godfathers and one Godmother; and for every Female, one Godfather and two Godmothers; and Parents shall be admitted as Sponsors, if it is desired. Book of Common Prayer (Prot. Episc. Ch., U. S. ). [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To act as godfather to; to take under one's fostering care. [ R. ] Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A father's or mother's father; an ancestor immediately after the father or mother in lineal ascent. [ 1913 Webster ]

Grandfather longlegs. (Zool.) See Daddy longlegs. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Like a grandfather in age or manner; kind; benignant; indulgent. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was a grandfatherly sort of personage. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Great, 10. ] The father of one's grandfather or grandmother. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a man in charge of children in an institution. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ AS. steópfaeder. ] The husband of one's mother by a subsequent marriage. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Having no father; fatherless; hence, born contrary to nature. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Having no acknowledged father; hence, illegitimate; spurious; bastard. [ 1913 Webster ]

See drainable.
See dramatic.
See drinkable.
See durable.
See duteous.
See dutiful.
See earnest.
See eatable.
See ecclesiastical.
See edible.
See elaborate.
See elective.
See elusive.
See emotional.
See emphatic. See employable.
See employable.
See endurable.
See -English.
See entire.
See enviable.
See envious.
See episcopal.
See equable.
See errable.
See escapable.
See evangelical.
See eventful.
See evident.
See exact.
See examinable.
See exceptionable.
See exclusive.
See exemplary.
See exempt.
See exhaustible.
See existent.
See expectable.
See expectant.
See explainable.
See express.
See expressible.
See expugnable.
See extinct.
See factious.
See fadable.
See fain.
See familiar.
See famous.
See fashionable.
See fast.
See fatherly.
See fathomable.
See faulty.
See fearful.
See feasible.
See felicitous.
See felt.
See feminine.
See fermentable.
See festival.
See fine.
See fleshy.
See fluent.
See forcible.
See fordable.
See foreknowable.
See foreseeable.
See forgetful.
See forgivable.
See formal.
See framable.
See fraternal.
See friable.
See frightful.
See frustrable.
See full.
See gainable.
See gainful.
See gallant.
See genial.
See genteel.
See gentle.
See gentlemanlike.
See gentlemanly.
See geometrical.
See ghostly.
See glad.
See godlike.
See good.
See goodly.
See gorgeous.
See grammatical.
See grave.
See guidable.
See guilty.
See habile.
See habitable.
See hale.
See handy.
See hardy.
See harmful.
See hasty.
See hazardous.
See healable.
See healthful.
See healthy.
See heavenly.
See heedful.
See helpful.
See heritable.
[ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]